Spoet tihixa



g- 23, 1932. I G R. HOLMES 1,873,408

sronw TIMING CLOCK Filed April 4. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i l l I IIIIII Qwmnto o 6'- H. H lmes 1932 G. R. HOLMES 1,873,408

SPORT TIMING CLOCK Fi led April 4, 1929 2 Sheetsheet 2 fi m ; Wntoz u the following? description.

Patented Aug. 23, 1932 i UNITED STATES f anemia}. or;

I 'mw This inventiomrelates to clocks md:mnre particularly to: clocksdesigned t'ohe used ior timing sports such as basket ba 1 foot ball, lacrosseand thelike. lnfgamesio .=this.-1cha*r-" j acter,. the teams; flay for a,-v certain definite length of time an if there-is anystoppage 10f this play: for any mason,'-time1is #tI-kQl-lOllt, these games usually havingmertain periods, as for instance quartersvand halves. The 10 general objectof the present inventionis to provide alargeclock dial'which my..;be "observed by the spectamrs and'whichlwili' :have graduations thereon, being equal to thetotal periodiof phyand the ll dial bein divided into the partiwla'raperiods caller? for by the gamevto which thedial is to be applied, the clockwork having means whereby :the timekeeper, whenever time is I taken out. may-stop the clock and start it I again when play is nebeg fln so thatthespectators may see 'for' -Fthemseives just how-much time is left of the playingperiod or periods, thus adding very greatly: to :the interest of the games as far as the apectatmsare com 3! cerned. I a a A further object is to provide a device of this character which is ste ed .or started electrically so tl iat thetimekeeper, umpire, referee orotherpro apart gay-readily control thei dockworh firom many di fl'enent parts of the field or otherobservation point, permitting him to I readily see I just what is A-zfurthe'r' o'bjecti's to'provide'means that a relative"largerlonghand maybe eperated over a relatively larr'gedial and or startedas beforedescrihed. F p

Other objects will appearifi the course "of My invention isfillustr ted ink the accom pa'nyingYdrawings, f

Figure l is we; elevationoia cloekoonstructed in aecordancewith: my invention;

, p igure 2 is a. perspective view-.qftheclutch shifter; L

Iii I e a..-. transverse\sectional;view threughtheolock; a Figure4ismfwo r 59 Eiggre 5 is'anelevationflfihfidectmdmgthemotal graduationsnet and: 13116111188118 associatedithemwith i for shiftingthenlutch; e

3 .;Beferring fl1ese drawings; '10 designates the frame of theiolock which @mayhbemt any x suitable mmtructimor form; .;Monnt1edupoir l5 thisrfinme use twodrivinggeu wheelsjleaich connected to ansualx spring 12. wherebyi the pansnnmyabedrivenythese springslandrgears being. :preferably: independent aoi-eanhiother. v

1:.Each1ofi :theseigear wheels Fllengages with a. pinion 7x18 :mount'ed .ou the trbor. 10f ages! ll. Preferably,- though 1410 "not toibe to \this, theid'riving gean'wheels name eightyiourteeth; the .pinion'sillhave eight teeth and." the gear; wheels .14. are. lprw vided 'sixtyi-six; teeth. These .i gcur wheels 14mm with apinionslii having twentyrsixz teeth.. A. trsinrot gears of any suitable; dmrmher as ion :zinstance; the gear I wheelsifiandkli'soperativelydrivesmpinionlS having norr. instanceztmlveteeth; this pinion upon aufarbonearrying' thesesoapenmnt: wheel: .1219. A111 m dinary :escapewe?!) is used; in eonnection: with this :esa wheel Midis; carried b :the pen dn umr kfieinthssnsualimanner." hispenduhimlmai'ries :npons it the: weight 4? which is adjustable longitudinally HIPDHI the istafi of the rpendulum. I

"Fina-gear-wheel .l'5'iS1mOIIHtBd lOOSBlYWPOIi aLceiitral-shaftl21. i This -sh;s'.t-operatively carniesrthe hand '22 which goperates ever the dial '23 of the I clock. This handis held'in placeby'a nut 24. Mounted upomthe 'shaft 21; is a sleeve-25 which has friction-tight en with theshaftfil. flfineehdofth'is sleeve is for ithe reception of the square ,opeir'ing in the. hand 22; When the nirt'24is'secured in place, it not only holds in them-n51 in place, butit forcesithei sleevec25 down tight against a shoulder26 which forms part *of the shaft. This" shoulder is. 'cchamferedorcutaway atoneie'ndand gear iwluee'l 15 is counter, bor'edrto receive this cnt awayehdpfthe shoulder. Thus, it .will beseen that the-sleeve 25 lturns at alltimes withithe :shsft21- ,whena this. shaft is rturaed. The gear, mheell5 has: on it twentyrsix; teeth.

a v l s s n theshaft and m I is entirely free to operate with relation to the shaft or with relation to the sleeve 25.

This wheel, it will be seen, as being constantly driven by the spring actuated gear wheels 11 and the train of gears transmitting motion to the gear wheel 15. On each side of the shaft 21, there is formed a flat key 27 and surrounding the shaft 21 and coacting with this key is a clutch member 28. Thus this clutch member is keyed to the shaft 21 and must turn therewith. Fitting over the opposite end of the shaft 21 from the sleeve 25 is a hollow, somewhat conical casing 29' and within this casing there is disposed a coiled compression spring 30 connected at one end to the clutch 28 and at its other end to the shaft 21. This spring urges the clutch into operative engagement with the gear wheel 15 and forces the gear wheel 15 against the shoulder 26 and thus under normal circumstances, the rotation of the gear wheel 15 causes the rotation of the shaft 21.

Coacting with the clutch 28 is a clutch shifting means comprising a transversely extending shaft 32 having adjacent one end thereof the fork 33, this fork embracing the clutch 28. At one end, this shaft 32, which is mounted in suitable bearings upon the frame 10 has an arm 34. Mounted in any suitable manner upon the clock supporting frame, is an electro-magnet 35, the coils of which are connected inanormallyinterrupted circuit with the source of current. The armature 36 of this magnet is mounted upon a rod 37 which may be made of bakelite or other insulating material and which is operatively connected to, as for instance by being pivote the arm 34. Thus it will be seen that when the electro-magnet 35 is energized, and the armature 36 drawn toward the magnet, the shaft 32 will be shifted to cause the clutch to be thrown away from the gear wheel 15 against the action of the spring 30.

However, as soon as the current through the magnet is cut off, the spring 30 will cause the clutch to engage the gear wheel 15 with the shaft 21. Any suitable switch may be used for closing the circuit through the electromagnet and I have indicated such a switch as at 38. This switch is illustrated entirely diagrammatically and may be of any suitable kind. While I have referred to an electro-magnet for actuating the clutch, I do not wish to be limited to this as a solenoid might be used, the core of the solenoid being connected to the rod 37. An angularly bent shaft 39 keeps the rod 37 and the armature in proper alinement with the electro-magnet.

It will be seen that the dial 23 is provided with a dial 40 and a second hand 41. This second hand may be driven in any suitable manner, but I have illustrated it as being driven by a train of four gears 42, 43, 44 and 45, the second hand 41 being mounted upon the arbor of the gear wheel 45. The gear wheel 42 is mounted upon the sleeve 25 to rotate therewith. I have illustrated the dial 23 as being one adapted to be used in the game of basket ball as played at schools or by amateurs. The dial may be of any desired diameter as for instance three feet across, while the dial for the second hand is about six inches in diameter. The dial as used for playing basket ball at high schools and gradeless schools and under like circumstances is arranged to provide thirty-two minutes for playing time and, therefore, the minute hand instead of sweeping over sixty minutes in a complete revolution, sweeps through thirtytwo minutes in a complete revolution and is marked to indicate the quarter periods. In college basket ball, forty minutes is used for the game divided into twenty minute halves and, of course, the dial under those circumstances will be designed to indicate forty minutes and the minute hand will make a complete rotation around the dial in forty minutes. The total playing time of football is sixty minutes divided into four quarters of fifteen minutes each and the dial under these circumstances would be correspondingly graduated. By having the dial withgraduations corresponding to the total playing time of the game and having this dial large, the audience can see at all times just how the game is progressing and how much time is left in any period for play, and furthermore, there is no chance for either side to be cheated in time as the timer being operated by clockwork, is accurate. The same clock movement may be used for any of the timing clocks above referred to with just two changes in the size of the gear wheel 26 and the wheels 14. Of course, the gears that turn the second band would have to be in proportion to the large hand.

In my construction the umpire, time keeper, referee or other oflicial charged with this duty, would start the clock when play was started with the hand at the zero point on the dial and the second hand, of course, at zero. The band would continue to move under the action of the clockwork unless something occurred which would require the stoppage of the game and time to be taken out. The ofiicial then closes the switch which retracts the clutch. The gear wheel 15 continues to operate, but the shaft or arbor 21 is held from operation or ceases its movement as does the pointer or hand onthe dial. As soon as the all is put into play again or the play is resumed, the switch is opened and the clutchengages the gear wheel 15 with the arbor and the pointer again moves over the dial.

' While I have illustrated a certain definite construction which I believe to be particularly valuable, I do not wish to be limited to this as obviously many changes might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

iio

I claim: 7 1. A clock for timing sports having a relativel large dial, a balanced hand operating thereover, a shaft upon which the hand is mounted, a gear wheel for operating said shaft but rotatively mounted thereon, means normally connecting the gear wheel to the shaft, electrically operated, manually controlled means for releasing the connection between the gear wheel and the shaft, two trains of spring actuated gear wheels operatively engaging said gear wheel on the shaft to drive it, escapement mechanism driven from one of said trains and including a pendulum, and an escapement wheel.

2. A clock for timing sports having a relatively large dial, a shaftextending throu h the dial, a balanced hand mounted upon t e shaft and revolving over the dial,a seconds dial, a hand moving thereover and operative- 1y engaging with said shaft and driven thereby, a gear wheel associated with said shaft but loose thereon, a clutch associated with the shaft and gear wheel and resiliently shifted into a position to operatively engage the gear wheel with the shaft, an escapement wheel, a

switch for closing the circuit through said electro-magnet. a

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

GEORGE R. HOLMES. 

